Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan overcoming slow start

Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan found the back net twice on Sunday against Southampton despite Arsenal’s 3-2 loss. Mkhitaryan’s goals gave him four in the Premier League after 14 games. He has now scored more goals in an Arsenal shirt than during his time with Manchester United, showing Fantasy football managers that former manager Jose Mourinho’s tactics set him back at Old Trafford.

Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan overcoming slow start

Mkhitaryan has only played a full 90 minutes in six of 14 matches in the Premier League. It has caused his Fantasy Premier League points to suffer as manager Unai Emery has played Mkhitaryan as a substitute on a number of occasions.

The midfielder’s 14 points in gameweek 17 made him FPL’s top scorer and player of the week. His previous FPL best came in gameweek 2 when he scored 12 points against Chelsea. Since Mkhitaryan’s eight points in gameweek 12 against Wolverhampton Wanderers, he had failed to score more than two points in a game.

Mkhitaryan has played just 838 Premier League minutes. It is the equivalent of just over nine full matches for an average of 5.5 points per FPL gameweek.

The Arsenal midfielder currently costs £6.7 million in FPL. Fewer than 300,000 FPL managers selected Mkhitaryan for gameweek 17. The Arsenal man’s points may have been the difference for those managers to pick up key wins.

Mkhitaryan is nearly halfway to the 107 points he tallied last season for Manchester United. Unai Emery is bringing out the best in the player despite Mkhitaryan rarely playing a full 90 minutes.

Arsenal face off against Burnley in gameweek 18 at the Emirates. They will then face Brighton away on Boxing Day before hosting Liverpool to end the calendar year.

Of the three teams, Liverpool are the only ones Arsenal have played previously. The fixture ended in a 1-1 draw with Mkhitaryan playing just 67 minutes and recording two points.

FPL managers will love what Mkhitaryan did against Southampton and consider his addition for gameweeks 18 and 19. However, Liverpool’s trip to the Emirates may force a number of FPL managers to drop the midfielder.